[chico20854]

May 18, 1997

Nationwide conscription begins in Canada. Initially, there are some "card burning" rallies held by people opposing Canadian involvement in the war in Europe and by those resisting conscription.

Unofficially,

Outside Fort Lee, Virginia, MPs are called to a low-budget hotel in the early morning to break up a rowdy gathering of trainees. When the MPs arrive there are over 25 soldiers (mostly privates but including one staff sergeant and a lone, female, second lieutenant), ample alchohol, cocaine and six unregistered firearms. All the soldiers are brought to the base confinement facility.

The final major secret transfer of precious objects out of London takes place under the careful watch of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. This final consignment includes the second copy of the Magna Carta kept at the British Library.

A third day of airstrikes on North Korean transportation sites continues. The USAF long-range aircraft are supplemented by F-16s of the 16th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 432nd Tactical Fighter Wing, forward deployed to Kangnung Air Base, Korea; the F-16s carry precision-guided munitions to target bridges and tunnels along the rail lines approaching the DMZ, while ROKAF and USAF A-10s search roads and rail lines for convoys and trains to attack.

VII German Korps advances on Walcz and Piła while III German Korps, assisted by more amphibious landings (often in battalion size), takes Koszalin and Slupsk. The Soviet 3rd Shock Army, battered by a month of intense action and at less than 25 percent strength, is withdrawn to the Kaliningrad oblast for rest and reconstruction.

As the Polish Free Congress discovers the challenges of governing recaptured territory, 7th US Army offers the assistance of the 42nd Military Police Group (Customs) in battling smuggling and black market activity.

The contractors hired by the German government complete their first job, emergency repairs to the railroad bridge over the Oder at Krosno Odrzańskie, which had been damaged by RAF Tornadoes in January.

Logistic difficulties slow the American counterattack in Iran as the limited reserves of ammunition and spare parts in Saudi Arabia are depleted. CENTCOM's limited transportation resources for moving things across the Persian Gulf are nearly fully committed to sustain the forces that have already been moved to Iran, leaving the US Marine's 1st Division, the 434th Field Artillery Brigade and many of XVIII Airborne Corps' support units stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In Leningrad, the British SAS team launches what will turn out to be its final attack. They infiltrate the Vostochnaya electrical substation and attack the control center. The subsequent damage to the control center severely disrupts the life of the city, cutting off power to 40 percent of the city, shutting down much of the metro system and the main water treatment plant as well as massive portions of the city's industry.

In Colombia, the battle of El Moral comes to an end as the guerrillas, battered by mortar fire and two days of nearly nonstop air attack, melt away into the jungle. They take their dead and wounded with them, leaving the government forces in control of the town and its hostile population. Government losses approach 150 dead and over 300 wounded.